When drummer Chris Pennie left Dillinger Escape Plan to join Coheed and Cambria, both Dillinger and its fans were overjoyed with Pennie’s replacement, Gil Sharone of LA’s Stolen Babies. Says Gil, “I was thrilled to play on Dillinger’s Ire Works CD and to do the tour. We had this ridiculous chemistry that was both personal and musical. When we played together for the first time, the room lit up.” Towards the end of the touring cycle however, the drummer reveals that, “it got to the point where Dillinger was becoming my life, and my first commitment has always been to Stolen Babies, because that’s my band. Continue reading An Interview with Gil Sharone of Stolen Babies→
Since the 2007 release of its fourth album, Colors, North Carolina’s Between the Buried and Me (BTBAM) have toured relentlessly, blowing metal fans away with its exciting and challenging contribution to the Progressive Metalcore genre. As part of a highly adventurous quintet that mixes epic elements of Pink Floyd and King Crimson with the thunder of modern heavyweights like Tool and Mastodon, drummer Blake Richardson is determined to bring the groove back to extreme metal drumming. Continue reading An Interview with Blake Richardson of Between the Buried and Me→
Not many families can boast having two sons that are both rock music legends, but that’s the case with the Appice family. First inspired by seeing his older brother Carmine drum with classic ‘60s group The Vanilla Fudge, Vinny Appice picked up a pair of drum sticks himself at age eleven. Vinny recorded his first album with guitarist Rick Derringer while still a teenager, and he hasn’t slowed down since. Thirty years into his impressive career, Vinny is currently best known for providing the metal thunder with Ronnie James Dio, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi in Black Sabbath and its offshoot, Heaven & Hell. Currently touring with Heaven & Hell on a must-see line up featuring Judas Priest, Motorhead and Testament, Vinny and the group will be entering the studio in early fall to record the first full-length album of original material by Heaven & in sixteen years. Continue reading An Interview with Vinny Appice of Heaven and Hell→
Martin Axenrot knew he had big shoes to fill when he was called on to sit in for Opeth’s long time drummer Martin Lopez, who had become ill and was unable to tour with the group. After completing five tours with the titans of Swedish metal, Axenrot became a full member of Opeth in the spring of 2006. Being a fan of many styles of music, Martin never had any difficulty adapting his playing style to authentically replicate Opeth’s music live, but he did feel challenged when it came time to enter the studio to record the band’s latest masterpiece, Watershed. But judging by his fantastic performance – a brilliant mix of blast beats and precise double bass offset by impressive prog rock chops – captured on what everyone from the band’s rabid fans to Opeth founder, singer/guitarist Mikael Akerfeldt is calling the group’s best effort, Axenrot had no need to worry. Continue reading An Interview with Martin Axenrot of Opeth→
This month, drummer Paul Bostaph – the guy who “took a lot of shit from Slayer fans for committing the cardinal sin of replacing Dave Lombardo” – talks to Metal Edge about his return to the drum throne of Bay Area thrash stalwarts, Testament on their latest critically acclaimed CD, Formation of Damnation. Enjoy! Continue reading An Interview with Paul Bostaph of Testament→
